Folder : 1338084 Last Name : MAINOR First Name : PHILLIP Middle Initial : Race : W Sex : M Date of Birth : 08/02/1961 Book Date : 05/03/2005

This jackass has been functioning as a Wiccan High Priest in the New Orleans community for about 2 years now. He's a fake. I'll try to sum up 2 years briefly. He came, he created a circle, he taught classes, he harmed. He would never tell anyone his last name. For quite some time he would only give his Craft name- Balarmond. Eventually he gave a first name- Phillip. When pressed for his last name, he finally gave one, Morgan. He alluded that he was a member of the legendary Morgan family...as in JP Morgan. Heh....yeah, right. Nor would he ever give anyone his craft lineage. (It's not required to give your Craft lineage, however, you should be willing to give this to your students. And certainly other High Priest/esses should they ask...especially if you claim to be their equal and they are giving you theirs.)His previous Craft names were Castiel and Aluriel. No doubt, when he gets out, he'll re-invent himself under yet another magical name.
For my non-Wiccan friends, when I say lineage, I'm not referring to blood lineage, but rather his Wiccan lineage. When we ask about lineage, we are asking who initiated you and trained you in the ways of the Craft. Many pagan paths are very secret. (Okay, quick explanation of Wicca. Saying you are Wicca is similar to you saying you're Christian. We also have different paths- ie, Eclectic, Gardnerian, Alexandrian etc. - this is like saying you are Baptist, Catholic, Lutheran etc.- ya'll get the idea.) Their rituals, books of shadows (this is our "bible" so to speak. It is differnt, but just as important to us as your Christain bible is to you.) and such are all secret that you can only know about if you are trained and initiated in their tradition. One thing that is NEVER secret is lineage-at least not to other priests and priestesses. Even the most secret of Covens will always tell you their lineage. If they don't, they obviously have something to hide. If they are "self initiated" they will usually tell you that too- this is somewhat common among solitary practitioners. ( nolawitch feel free to jump in if I miss-state or misrepresent anything...this is fast typing at work!)
So, based on his reluctance to give any information, we started doing some detective work. We found out that he had a criminal record in Georgia for petty theft basically...I think they phrase it as "theft by taking". According to the lovely lady we spoke with in Georgia, that means, *insert very southern accent here* "he steals stuff". Now I'm all for giving people a second chance in life. We all fuck up now and then, some more than others. You pay your debts and move on. Well, not Phillip. He got out on probation, promptly jumped said probation and five years later, found himself in NOLA.
Yesterday morning, my High Priestess got a phone call telling her that he is still in fact wanted in the state of GA for theft and jumping probation. There was just one small problem here- we didn't know exactly where he lived. So, a friend and I set out yesterday to try to find this out. One wrong address and one right address later, he was caught. She and I had the privilege of seeing him driven away in the police cruiser. Very satisfying to know that this man will no longer bring harm to our community. I hope he goes away from a long time.
So please, if ya'll know any Pagan's, please pass this story on to them. It's important for Pagan communities around the country to be aware of this man. And also to know to look out for this type of person in their own community. If something doesn't seem right about someone in your community, chances are, something isn't right. Investigate, ask questions, search on the net, anything to get information. We police ourselves as evident by our work to get this jackass off the streets. He did not work (claimed he was retired), had no phone or anything else in his own name. Lived with whomever would take him in and lived off the money he collected from teaching students Wicca. His "teaching" was having students purchase a copy of Spiral Dance by Starhawk and basically reading it with them. Gee...most of us can do that on our own for free! He also stole anything he collected under the guise of charity...food for food banks, clothing for clothing drives, money etc.

I'm making this post public so anyone can read. If you know of a pagan community, feel free to link them here or copy and past this to them. Thanks.